the tree of woe

I spotted a sign on I580 today. This is, to the best of my recollection, what it said:

Next Exit: Oakland Airport

Zoo And Coliseum

Now I’m all for saving the taxpayers money, and for the consolidation of government programs. This seems to me, however, to be a little bit much. I’m not sure how the functions of a zoo, an airport and a coliseum overlap, but I can’t find a good reason for combining them all into one entity. I suppose that they could mean:

Next Exit:

Oakland Airport

Oakland Zoo

Oakland Coliseum

But that isn’t what the sign said.

Perhaps the goats wander the coliseum after Raiders games, eating the trash and saving on janitorial costs. The elephants could dispense drinks out of their trunks, too. Tigers would function as can openers with their giant fangs. It would be just like the Flintstones. I don’t know how the airport enters into it.